Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
30 Horribly Designed Staircases That Are Just An Accident Waiting To Happen, As Shared On This Facebook Group
At the crossroads of architecture and home design lie stairs. They serve an important and practical function and they can serve as important design elements, but as this aptly named Facebook group loves to point out, they can also be downright deadly without the appropriate safety considerations.
Honestly, it takes some talent and creativity to make stairs that are as unsafe as some of the masterpieces on this list. Some seem downright uncomfortable while others present clear tripping hazards or even fool the eyes into hiding individual steps. Let us know which ones you think you’d trip on in the comments.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
The Staircase You Take An Enemy Down
RELATED:
#2
When The House Lights Go Down, Good Luck
#3
Do They Know That Wheelchair Users Don't Normally Bunny Hop?
Stairs may seem deceptively simple at first. How hard is it to design a set of stairs? Just make a bunch of steps and you’ve got it, right? Not quite. In addition to whatever architectural regulations there may be, there are some basic geometric rules that ought to be followed.
#4
Left, Picture Of Stairs From Top-The Wood Planks Run Parallel To Stair Edges Seemingly Forming A Flat Surface. Right, Steps Viewed From Bottom After Fall
#5
This Made My Stomach Swoop
#6
The 'Stairs Of Death' Are A Section Of Stone Steps Built By The Incas, Which Lead To The Top Of Huayna Picchu, In Peru, Which Is One Of The Steep Mountains That Overlooks Machu Picchu
The peak of the mountain is 2,693 metres above sea level and has Inca ruins on top.
You couldn't pay me a billion dollars to walk up that
The ideal rise and run for a single normal step is 7” rise and 11” run (~18cm x ~25cm). However, other ratios are possible for other types of steps. There are tons of sites online that break down the rules of stair design, and that’s all before you get into the fancy ideas highlighted in this post.
#7
I Just Fell Down These In My Mind And It Sounded Like Someone Hitting A Gong In A Very Uncoordinated Way
The Original Bruno 2 years ago
The half-stairs seem vastly superior to ladders as a steep climb. However, I presume that guard rails were eventually installed.
#8
I Wanna See Someone Try This In Heels
Edda Kamphues 2 years ago
I think there is a fair reason why stairs and escalators feature very prominently in my nightmares.
#9
Yeah, That Is A One-Story Home For Me
Fortunately, most jurisdictions do have some sort of requirements for stairs, and we suspect that they haven’t been followed in many of these examples. In addition to rise over run requirements, step and stair regulations may determine banister shape and height, step edge shapes, step layout, rotation characteristics for steps that turn, and other factors - all of which can determine how likely it is for a set of steps to cause accidents.
#10
“Stairs” Designed By Francesco Librizzi. It’s Really More Of A Treacherous Ladder. I’d Consider Going Up These. Would Not Be Interested In Going Down Them
#11
A Set Of Steep Stairs Each Step Alternates So That You Can Only Really Put One Foot On A Step At A Time. It's Also Nearly A Straight Down Angle
#12
Oh No, I'll Jump, Thanks
#13
An Unusual Cuboidal Stairway In The Little Village San Augustin Etla, Oaxaca, Mexico (Vernacular Architecture) They Are Made Out Of Red Stone And In Six Alternating Columns. The Ankle Twister
Serenity Now! 2 years ago
I think there may be some skeletons at the bottom of these, um, stairs.
#14
I Can Already Feel The Concussion
#15
My Shins Hurt Looking At This
#16
When You Don't Have Enough Space For Stairs! Brilliant Child-Friendly Space With An Observatory Tower Incorporated By Arch. Hiroshi Okamoto
#17
Stairs For People Who Aren’t Afraid To Die And Who Enjoy The Nauseating Feeling Of Vertigo
#18
Sthairs
#19
Love My New Apartment But These Are The Stairs Leading Up To The Loft. They Feel More Like A Ladder Because Of How Steep They Are. Don’t Get Me Started On How We’re Going To Move Furniture Up There
#20
Honey What's Wrong, You Haven't Gone Down The Stairerslide Today
#21
Imy Online Civil Engineer Major Is Starting To Pay Off, Another Satisfied Customer
#22
Don't Roll An Ankle Or Anything
#23
The Chair There So People Can Sit And Watch The Injuries
#24
It Looks Like A Human Spine To Me
#25
I Would Like To Have A Word With The Architect Of This Building
Mattias Svensson 2 years ago (edited)
This is an art istallation by Lang/Baumann (brilliant, if you want my opinion) and doesnt belong here
#26
Ventilation Grill At The Bottom Of The Enclosure Suggests That Installing Air Conditioning Was More Desired Than A Usable Stairway. Or These Are Cat Stairs
#27
Expert Difficulty Level Stairs
#28
It's Beautiful
#29
Do These Count? They Are In My Son's Room Btw, And I Quite Like Them
#30
The ‘V’ In The Design Is For Very Dangerous
Aileen Grist 2 years ago
Lots of older houses in the uk had these for when the bedrooms were opposite one another. You get used to them very quickly.
#31
Stone Stairs With Glass Handrail Leading To A Steep Drop
Serenity Now! 2 years ago
Ok...this one made me laugh...must pay full attention at the bottom. LOL
#32
Oh Well
ISeeWendiGo 2 years ago
For when the Fast and the Furious 97 comes out and they're all so old that they're racing wheelchairs instead of cars!😎👩🦼👩🦽👴👵🏆
#33
Stair Designed By People With Two Feet. I Really Hate These Things At My Gym
#34
Don't Ask Me How, But I Haven't Busted My Butt On These Yet
#35
Only A Stair In The Loosest Sense, A Clean White Tiled Ordinary-Looking Men's Bathroom Has An Unusual Vertical Access Method
The first two urials are placed at normal height for your average male genitalia. However, the third pee depositary looms above 2 inches from the ceiling. It's bowl is, almost defiant, orientated towards the ceiling. Truly only a giant whose legs are 90% of his height would be able to take advantage of such a piece of plumbing unaided. What vertical assistance is available to our average man? A staircase perhaps? a ladder? Leading up to the bowl are five red rock climbing hand holds. The lowest is placed at heights that maybe a toddler could access and the tallest one at perhaps at head height. At the urinal no such had holds exist besides the gas heater pipes. What type of mutlilegged creature can access such a waste disposal method boggles the mind. Perhaps the building developers had spiderman as their target market.
#36
Two Levels Of Stairs In What Looks To Be A Highly Trafficked Area, Where The Center Railing Connects To The Left Side Of The Second Set Of Stairs. Thus Completely Blocking Off Entry From The Left Side Of The Stairs
#37
A Set Of Stairs That Leads Up Into The Second Floor But Also Partially Leads Up To Nothingness As The Houses Walls Were Built Into It. Perfect For A Fairy Shelf
#38
Specially Engineered To Promote Faceplants
#39
Go Off Tim Burton
#40
Imagine Having To Run Through These During A Fire
#41
A Staircase Passing Through A Counter... And Using The Top Of The Counter As A Step
#42
Found These Stairs In A ”luxury” House Listing In Croatia. The Price For This House Is 1.2m €!
S. E. in Indiana 2 years ago
Stairs and footholds on the walls. A very adventurous house choice.
#43
Sudden Case Of Wall
#44
Stairs With Similarly Colored Tiles, No Hand Rail, And A Glass Wall... In A Beach Town Where Our Feet Were Regularly Wet. Almost Died A Few Times
#45
One Way Ticket To A Stubbed Toe
#46
Imagine Being Half Asleep And Just Needing To Pee
S. E. in Indiana 2 years ago
Leave the lid up and then see how good of an aim you really have.
#47
The Backrooms
#48
I Live In A House Built Sometime Before 1855. These Are The Only Stairs From The First Floor To The Second Floor
Sharyn Hay 2 years ago
We lived in an old house that had 1 set of normal stairs, for company,1 set of narrow, steep stairs to the bathroom and bedroom and one set of "servant's" stairs that were like these.
#49
I Work In Lighthouses. These Aren't The Worst I've Come Across. They Lull You Into A False Sense Of Safety Thinking They Are Stairs But They Need To Be Used Like A Ladder. Can Barely Fit Your Heels On The Step If Facing Downwards
#50
Free Floating Apparition, Stairs Designed By A Sadist Or Art Installation? Maybe All Of The Above
#51
This Stairwell In Rajasthan, India Inside A Well Is The Deepest In The World. It's Called Chand Baori And Was Made By Slaves In The City Of Jaipur
#52
Everyday You Can Rearrange The Shelves!
#53
That's The Gateway To Hell
Two_rolling_black_eyes 2 years ago
Its an abandoned Indian stepwell ruin. It allowed multiple women in the same village to access the well simultaneously regardless of how much water was in it. It also served as a reservoir to store water during the rainy season for the dry season. Google stepwell to see many amazing designs over 1200 years.
#54
Painted Outdoor Staircase In Bucharest, Romania, Made To Look Like A Waterfall, With Mossy Rocks Included
#55
N Steep Outdoor Staircase Leading Down An Equally Deep Hill, Into The Dark Abyss
#56
Taking Your Life Into Your Hands
#57
This Hurts My Brain
#58
It's Certainly One Of The Stairs Of All Time
#59
A Witch Lives There. I Feel It
Two_rolling_black_eyes 2 years ago
Its a grain silo. There are augers on the opposite side of the building. This stairwell is to access a walkway that runs the length of the building so you can unblock clogs in the tube that dumps the grain. The tube runs the length of the building too so it can evenly dump the grain.
#61
They Desperately Tried To Make This All Work!
#62
Wider Set Of Stairs With No Actual Handrailings And Thinner Set Of Stairs With A Handrail That Nobody Could Fit Through
Heather Mack-Scott 2 years ago
Very weird, but looks like this is a retro fitted raised landing. On the landing in the back you can see where the new platform starts. I just cant' imagine what the door to the floor behind the camera looks like though. Unless there is no exit, but the old landing underneath is somehow damaged and new metal stairs put over it.
#63
Me Designing My Sims House
Aileen Grist 2 years ago
I've lived in a couple of houses with stairs like these - or the V top step. It's amazing how you just get used to it and don't even notice - these look a bit wide - usually you just step from one side to the other without going down the first step
#64
Okay So I Know That Technically These Stairs Are Designed Precisely To Keep You Alive But Still
#65
Granny's Teeth On The Cobb, Lyme Regis UK
#66
I Just Want To Send A Slinky Down It
S. E. in Indiana 2 years ago
There is no way. I would have to stop so many times to catch my breath.
#67
The Only Surviving Sunken Bath House Designed By Sir John Soane
#68
And If You Miss The Trash Bins, You Possibly Get Impaled By Those Parking Pole Things
#70
When Aesthetics Lead To Bad Design Hazards
#71
Water Closets Designed By People Who Aren’t Afraid To Die
Tyranamar Seuss 2 years ago
Sure. Just hang a left, go half-way up the stairs, and you can poop right there in the hall.
#72
Yikes! This Is A Finished Office Space For Rent
#73
A Staircase Into A Loft Conversion We Saw In A House We Viewed Recently. I Went Up And Down This While I Was Super Hungover 😭😂
#74
Stairs. But The One Third From Top Is Going To Kill You
#75
Osha Who?
#76
A Stair Where Each Steap Is A Slab Of Glass Rigidly Bolted To The Wall. No Handrail, No Non-Slip Insert, Just Glass
#77
A Castle We Visited In Brittany Last Week
#78
My Wife Took This Picture From The Loft Of Her Airbnb
#80
That's Pretty Freaking Cool. Albeit, I Would Fall Down And Die
S. E. in Indiana 2 years ago
Looks like a hell of a wine cellar. At least while you are lying on your back from the fall you would have something to drink while waiting on the paramedics to arrive. Of course, by the time they got there, they would probably think that's why you fell in the first place. What the hell, I'll have another.
#82
Platform 9 3/4’s
#83
Any Thoughts Anyone?
#84
Love A Good Repair Job
Add New Image
Explore more of these tags
What do you think ?
Bored Potato 2 years ago
Fun fact about stairs: some of the steps on the Great Wall of China's stairs are taller than other steps, which slows down the enemy considerably if they invade. The Chinese soldiers aren't affected because they are trained to move quickly on uneven stairs.
Betsy Green 2 years ago
While some are innovative art pieces, they should NOT be used as the primary stairs, imo. So many are just hazards
Deborah Rubin 2 years ago
I am massively phobic about stairs. I really should not have looked at these...
Agnes Jekyll 2 years ago
the trails of our national park were widened, losing much of the charm and a lot of forest cover because they were deemed inaccessible to tourists in their not-made-for-hiking footwear. Why are these monstrosities allowed? are there no safety codes for stairs?
Xyzchocolate 1 year ago
All of them looks fine except for a few that are 4, 7 ,8, 15, 21 and 26.
Snakeloverforever 2 years ago
This was just wow. Who ever made or designed these stairs had a crazy design plan
Tomato Smudge 2 years ago
Yeah if I have a medical emergency upstairs I'd call for help and then just fall to be reached easier 😔
Stefaan De Clerck 2 years ago
The people who designed this stairs should be punished. No consideration for elder people nor those who are less mobile. Space can be tight in some places but this doesn't justify this kind of design. Those are accidents waiting to happen.
Bored Potato 2 years ago
Fun fact about stairs: some of the steps on the Great Wall of China's stairs are taller than other steps, which slows down the enemy considerably if they invade. The Chinese soldiers aren't affected because they are trained to move quickly on uneven stairs.
Betsy Green 2 years ago
While some are innovative art pieces, they should NOT be used as the primary stairs, imo. So many are just hazards
Deborah Rubin 2 years ago
I am massively phobic about stairs. I really should not have looked at these...
Agnes Jekyll 2 years ago
the trails of our national park were widened, losing much of the charm and a lot of forest cover because they were deemed inaccessible to tourists in their not-made-for-hiking footwear. Why are these monstrosities allowed? are there no safety codes for stairs?
Xyzchocolate 1 year ago
All of them looks fine except for a few that are 4, 7 ,8, 15, 21 and 26.
Snakeloverforever 2 years ago
This was just wow. Who ever made or designed these stairs had a crazy design plan
Tomato Smudge 2 years ago
Yeah if I have a medical emergency upstairs I'd call for help and then just fall to be reached easier 😔
Stefaan De Clerck 2 years ago
The people who designed this stairs should be punished. No consideration for elder people nor those who are less mobile. Space can be tight in some places but this doesn't justify this kind of design. Those are accidents waiting to happen.
You May Like 155 Funniest Design Fails "Don't Test Me, I'm Already Broken": 30 Hilarious Memes From This Online Group For Programmers 50 Absolutely Hilarious Items That Made These People’s Homes All The More Interesting
Julija Nėjė
Rugilė Žemaitytė
Justina Čiapaitė
Related on Bored Panda
